The trace of political representation
By: Brian Seitz.
Series: SUNY series in radical social and political theory
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Albany, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 232
Subjects: Representative government and representation.; Representative government and representation -- United States.
Description: The Trace of Political Representation is a philosophical analysis of the discourses, practices, and effects of representation in political institutions, with an ultimate interest in contemporary American democracy. The perspective governing its approach is derived largely from Foucault, and tempered by a range of contemporary philosophers, including Derrida, Pitkin, and Castoriadis.

Seitz explores and questions the traditional, metaphysical notion that what gets represented in the apparatuses and processes of representation is a political subject or identity (for example, will, opinion, interests) that exists fundamentally independent of and prior to that process.

To accomplish this, he sketches out a historical articulation of several prominent formations of political representation from the past and then focuses on more contemporary political developments and dynamics, including the impact of "communications" technology and culture on the processes and institutions of representation.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-228) and index.